Two Coptic Christian Boys Detained in Egypt

Accused of defiling pages of Koran

Two Coptic Christian boys have been detained by the authorities on charges that they defiled the pages of a Koran, the latest in a spate of recent cases involving accusations that people have insulted Islam.

The boys, ages 9 and 10, are being held in juvenile detention in the village of Ezbet Marco, south of Cairo, according to Ishak Ibrahim, a researcher with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights who is investigating the case. They were detained last Sunday, when the imam of the local mosque claimed that he saw the children tearing the pages of a Koran.